When you’re launching a website, there are a lot of things to balance, whether it be content issues, client issues, coding issues, and so on. It is easy for some things to slip through the gaps.

In order to avoid that, here are a few simple things to keep in mind for every website you design. These are the little things that may slip through the gap:

* The Favicon: The favicon is the little icon that shows up in a web browsers navigation bar when you visit a site. It also is recorded when people bookmark a website. Create a favicon and put it into the root directory of your website as a way to brand your website.

* Title Creation: If you are using a Content Management System (CMS) or are making each individual page yourself, make sure that your page titles and meta data accurately describe your content and are keyword–rich.

* Browsers: Don’t just check your website using one web browser. If you use Internet Explorer, then also check older versions of IE, as well as Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Opera, and mobile devices.

* Validate Your Website: The W3C is an international organization devoted to creating standard coding procedures for internet content. Check out their website (http://validator.w3.org) for an online code validator. Simply enter your web address and it will check to make sure your code is up to standard. This blog (http://www.ColinKlinkert.com/) has over 100 issues, so that is quite high, but its a trade off, making the site have the functions you want, often means it won’t be perfect code.

* Offer RSS: Does your site have regular content updates? If so, offer an RSS news feed so people can check out your website in the RSS application of their choice. If you are using a CMS, most of these have built-in RSS capabilities. If your site doesn’t receive content updates regularly (like a static business page), then don’t bother… Rather use Aweber to capture subscribers that you can then mail offers to

* Tracking: Have a way to track your traffic. Google Analytics provides free tracking services, and there are numerous others like Clicky and Mint. These services give you valuable information like total traffic, page traffic, and time spent at your website.

Just a few pointers there to ensure you have everything on the next site you build – If you can think of any things that I have forgotten on this list that others are likely to overlook, please post them in the comments section below

Today I’d like to tell you about the changes I recently made to my blog. It’s the first blog redesign I attempt (for this particular blog) and I must say I’m pretty happy with the end result. Most of you who visit my blog regularly must have noticed the changes already. I made changes to the navigation menu, about box, layout and footer. I also changed the RSS feed button and added an opt in box (make sure you download my new ebook by the way, simply enter your email address in the opt in form on the left). With these changes, it should be much easier for you to navigate throughout the blog. For those who have never visited the blog before, here is how it once looked:

The navigation menu was on the left side and the about box on the top. I really liked this navigation menu but wanted to add more links (to new pages of the blog, some are still under construction at the time this blog post is published). I also wanted the content to appear higher on the page and the opt in box to show up high in the sidebar. I didn’t make all those changes myself but got a designer / programmer to do it for me… and I’m very happy with his work! I had everything in mind before though.

If you scroll down, you will also notice that the layout has changed. In the past the home page was showing the ten latest blog posts (in their full version). Only one full blog post shows up at the top now, followed by two abstracts and a few archived posts. You don’t need to scroll down during hours anymore to find out what the previous blog posts are about. It is now much easier to find the blog posts that most interest you. I also added a testimonial… and there are more coming.

I’m pretty sure these changes will significantly improve the usability and I hope the new layout will help me grow the community I want to create on this blog. I’m sure these changes will make a difference! Anyhow, I hope you like the new design! Feel free to leave your feedback. A few weeks ago I also changed the design of my help desk, check out the following blog post for more info: Reply2Colin: New Design for Better Usability!

So you own or work for a small business, and it has been decided that now is the time to start your company’s web presence. Depending on your budget, you may hire somebody to design the site or you may do it yourself. Whatever you decide to do, keep these small business website tips in mind so that you don’t make a costly mistake:

• Keep It Simple: Flash animations and high resolution images may seem like a great idea for your site, but they have several downsides. First, they require specialized knowledge. You won’t be able to just go in there and update the information, you’ll need to rehire the web designer. Then, they don’t work well with search engines because search engines cannot see what’s in them (so make sure you add descriptive alt attributes to images). Finally, not everybody has the internet connection speed or web browser capability to view the site. Try to keep things simple.

• Update your site often: Your website is essentially your location in the digital realm. Would you let the front of your business’ building become dilapidated, run down, and out of date? No, you’d maintain it so that it looks like a professional business. Same thing with your website. Keep it clean and keep it fresh in order to retain your customers.

• Focus on the customer: While you should have information about your company’s history and employees on the website (if applicable) only use the ‘About Us’ page for this. Everywhere else the main focus should be on the customers and how their needs are met by the products and services your company offers.

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO): SEO is a necessity nowadays for all websites. If you’re building the website yourself, then do plenty of research (here are some important keyword research tips) either before or while you build it so that you can incorporate the lessons learned from day one. For SEO training and tools, visit SEOBook. For easy keyword and domain name research, you may use Easy Domain Research (available on CK Tools). Otherwise, hire a contractor or freelancer to take care of it for you.

I hope these small business website tips helped! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!

WordPress is one of the most (if not the most) used blog theme management systems. It’s actually so popular that for a few years now lots of people use it for their sites as well, and not only their blogs. There is now a very large choice of free and paid WordPress themes available on the web. You can find great a free blog theme range: they look great, they seem to perfectly fit your needs… but are they as good as they look? How about search engine-friendliness? How about conversion?

Some of the best looking blog themes are actually not search engine-friendly (enough) and/or have a poor conversion rate… These are very important aspects to take into consideration if you’re in the internet marketing or home business industry. Don’t let your competitors outrank you in search engines because they have a more search engine-friendly blog theme than you. When you get people to visit your site or blog, you also want them to take action: opting in your mailing list, clicking your ads, etc.

This blog post compares two of the most search engine-friendly, high converting WordPress blog themes available on the market at the moment: Squeeze Theme and Thesis Theme. These two themes are used by thousands of internet marketers and home business owners all over the world because they know that they can make a difference. Each blog theme is paid but rather inexpensive if you take into consideration all the benefits of using them.

Squeeze Theme is a great affiliate WordPress theme for marketers. It is search engine-friendly, and most importantly proven to be highly converting. This is great news if you want to squeeze the email addresses out of your visitors. As an internet marketer or home business owner, this is something you should definitely be doing.

Squeeze Theme is actually one of the highest converting WordPress theme available. It was specifically designed to grab people’s attention and make them take action (most importantly by opting in). If you use WordPress and take online marketing seriously, you should definitely consider purchasing Squeeze Theme (or Affiliate Theme, another theme by the same developers).

Squeeze Theme is very easy to install and has an easy-to-use main options panel. You can change the general settings very easily, change all the colors in just a few clicks… Whether you’re a newbie or a developer, if you try Squeeze Theme, you’re quite likely to fall in love with it! If you struggle customizing your current blog theme, make sure you give it a try. You can change almost anything in just a few clicks, no need to change any code!

Thesis Theme is more for niche sites and blogs. If you plan to have a lot of content, you should definitely consider purchasing this blog theme. It is one of the most (if not the most) search engine-friendly themes available on the market. It’s actually used by thousands of site and blog owners already. You just can’t ignore all the benefits of using this blog theme.

Thesis Theme is very popular in the internet marketing industry because it’s just perfect for content-based sites and blogs… and we all know how important content is for search engines. It is considered by many as the best blog theme on the market. Customizing this blog theme is a little more complex than customizing Squeeze Theme, but overall it’s still pretty easy. You may have to get your hands a little dirty though (by editing a few lines of code).

Thesis Theme was created by DIYthemes. The best news is… they just released a new version: Thesis 1.7. The 1.6 version was already a great, very advanced version but the 1.7 version seems to be even better! They keep improving it, and this is a major upside because only few developers keep significantly improving their blog themes… and let’s not talk about free themes!

Squeeze Theme: 9/10
Click here to get Squeeze Theme
Squeeze Theme is ideal if you want to capture your visitors’ email addresses. It’s a very high converting, easy-to-customize blog theme, and as an internet marketer or home business owner with a product to promote, you should definitely consider purchasing it. Ease of use, high conversion… this blog theme is a must-have!

Thesis Theme: 8/10
Click here to get Thesis Theme
As previously mentioned, Thesis Theme is ideal for niche sites and blogs. Many consider it as the best blog theme. It’s search engine-friendly and fairly easy to customize (not as easy as Squeeze Theme though). Thesis Theme will help you set up and run a killer site or blog in no time. It’s a rather minimal design, so your visitors focus on your content… which is actually a great thing!

Whether you’re a beginner or a guru, Squeeze Theme and Thesis Theme are very good, long-term investment that will help you make your sites and blogs work. If you’re on a tight budget, visit the Free Themes Directory or sites like WordPress Themes Base and Top WP Themes. Make a few bucks and invest in one of these proper, premium themes. Get yourself the best blog theme for your needs.

This blog post is part of a series of hot topics for making money online. Stay tuned for more and feel free to share your own experience on blog themes with us!

This was Hot Topic #4. Wondering where the first three are?
Hot Topic #1: Keyword Research Tips and Tools
Hot Topic #2: Choosing a Web Host: ViralHosts vs HostGator
Hot Topic #3: Autoresponder Marketing Strategy

A few weeks ago I was searching for a great affiliate WordPress theme for future squeeze pages and sites of mine. I just couldn’t find anything I really liked until I found a great affiliate WordPress theme called Squeeze Theme. As you can imagine, this theme was developed to help internet marketers and alike easily set up squeeze pages, sites and even blogs with WordPress.

Squeeze Theme was specifically designed to grab visitors’ attention and make them opt in, which is of course a must in our industry. As they say, if you aren’t squeezing the email addresses out of your visitors with your affiliate WordPress theme, you’re missing out on new customers… and profits! I couldn’t agree more. Your site may receive lots of traffic but if it doesn’t convert well (if visitors don’t opt in) all your traffic generation efforts are pretty useless…

Now you may think that this is just sales text after all… but if you test drive the actual theme and take a close look at how it is built, you will certainly understand why I picked this one and not another. This affiliate WordPress theme is considered as being one of the best converting themes in the industry, and when you remember how popular WordPress is… this is quite a fact!

This very professional looking theme is also very easy to customize. I’m not surprised Frank Kern and John Reese themselves recommend it too! It has an easy-to-use interface to customize your online presence almost as much as you want. The best part is that you don’t need to know anything about coding. If you already have a site or blog, you may simply want to use this theme for a single page of your site. Well, that’s possible!

Squeeze Theme design

As you can see the design is pretty neat, and you can of course change the appearance. You can for example change the colors, add your own background as well as widgets, ads, etc. Added to the regular WordPress features… This affiliate WordPress theme simply has it all! There is not much else you really need to start making money online!

Squeeze Theme interface

Another great advantage is the resource center. The members area is indeed full of videos, tutorials, etc. on how to set up your squeeze page, site or blog and most importantly make the most out of it. It also has a support forum, which is great if you’re a beginner as you will be able to find help very easily. They even offer a 12-week training course to learn how to set up an affiliate site and build a list.

To be honest with you, I really regret I only found out about this affiliate WordPress theme recently… This is certainly the best affiliate WordPress theme I have ever used. Period. And with all the support that comes with it, even total beginners can have a professional looking squeeze page, site or blog in no time! The most important aspect is actually the fact that the theme was designed to convert visits into opt ins. That’s truly priceless.

The people who developed Squeeze Theme also developed another theme called Affiliate Theme. While you can use Squeeze Theme for almost any type of make money online page, site or blog, Affiliate Theme is more specifically targeted at affiliate marketers. Both themes are available on Squeeze Theme‘s site.

If you aren’t really familiar with WordPress, I suggest you to sign up to ViralHosts and take the one-time offer, so you can install WordPress in just a few clicks (with Fantastico De Luxe). For more information, check out why ViralHosts web hosting is so good for internet marketers!

When the internet was young and web programming languages like JavaScript were first coming out, a flashy website was a big customer draw. Now, all those flashy graphics and design structures are passé. These days, internet users are far more sophisticated and are very skilled at finding the exact content that they are looking for. With that in mind, here’s a piece of advice: Forget flashiness, focus on content.

The term “bounce rate” refers to how many people dig into your site. If people link to one of your pages, but then immediately click out to another site, that is a bounce. If they look at one of your pages and then click through to another section of your website, that is a stick.

Which is more likely to cause people to stick around on your website, flashy graphics or compelling and informative content? If your content is well-written and engaging, and it provides the value of either information or entertainment to your audience, then people will stick around and spend time with your site.

Whether your website is designed to sell a certain product or makes its money from advertising, the longer a viewer stays on your site, the better. If the viewer immediately leaves, you won’t be able to charge top advertising rates on the site, and if they leave immediately, you never have a chance to sell them a product.

Compelling content is one of the most important, if not the most important, factor when it comes to creating a website that will be profitable.

Look at websites that attract you. How is the content delivered? Where are the big pieces of information located within that content? How easy is it to link from one piece of content to another interesting article or webpage? Apply the techniques that work for you to your own site.

Something I plan on doing in future is adding a training series via email for my members to opt-in to. try to deliver content in as many different ways as possible to appeal to all your readers prefered viewing and learning methods.